Aegon profit hit by mortality changes

AMSTERDAM--Dutch life insurer and pension provider Aegon NV said Thursday that new mortality estimates in the U.S. and Asia led to a 78% drop in third-quarter net profit.

Aegon, which gets most of its earnings from the U.S., said net profit was EUR52 million ($65 million) compared with EUR236 million in the same period a year earlier, below analysts' expectations. Underlying pretax profit, which strips out investment results and other volatile items, was EUR291 million, a 47% drop compared with last year.

Aegon mostly blamed new mortality assumptions and model updates at its U.S. and Asian operations, which led to EUR299 million in charges. Like other life insurers, Aegon regularly updates its actuarial models to take into account the impact of new estimates on life expectancy and mortality.

Aegon is in the midst of shoring up its balance sheet and boosting its capital base as it prepares for the implementation of the so-called Solvency II regime and wrestles with historically low interest rates. The company has divested a series of assets since 2010 and in October agreed to sell its Canadian life-insurance operations for EUR423 million.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.